


wicked game

by luxbrumalis



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bella Swan with a Backbone, Bree Tanner Lives, F/M, Family Bonding, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Manipulative Relationship, Past Domestic Violence, Protective Edward Cullen, Riley Biers Lives, Self-Hatred, Suicidal Thoughts, Time Gift, Time Travel Fix-It, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:22:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27522223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luxbrumalis/pseuds/luxbrumalis
Summary: Before the werewolf could finish the deed, the world had slowed down and blurred all around him, before reversing; his stone arms and hands attached back to his body, all his fingers, and the participants in this wicked game realigned – the wolf out of sight made him both grateful and timorous – the snowflakes ascending just to fall again. And, just like that, it was a couple of minutes ago.Or: Riley Biers gets a second chance. No pressure.
Relationships: Alice Cullen/Jasper Hale, Edward Cullen/Bella Swan, Riley Biers/Victoria (in the past)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 34





	wicked game

**Author's Note:**

> This idea would not leave me alone, so much so I'm writing again, first fic on ao3. I'm not even a huge Twilight fan but I had to fix it. I am interpreting Victoria and Riley's relationship as abusive. So please, mind the tags. I don't think anything will be too graphic but just to be cautious. 
> 
> I don't own Twilight, this is just for fun.

Hands-down, the best time for a time travel gift - that you barely know how to control, and have barely been able to use - to work is right before a werewolf kills you. Hands-down, verified information.

Riley Biers _had_ been screaming (had being the keyword), about to die. Now he wasn’t, and wasn’t that something?

It had been screaming derived from pain, a blinding fear, and the terrifying certainty that his second life was over. All the while, hopelessly wishing he could have controlled his life; never met Victoria, never became a vampire, or even, a few minutes ago, decided differently. All the while, _knowing_ he has a power of time, but being _unable to do anything._ His previous luck with his unpredictable gift was slim and so he simply wished for it to be over quickly, unlike the first time, where he’d _burned_ in the _rain_. Alone, and scared.

He remembered feeling _so scared_ , before that was burned out by the flames, like everything else.

Before the werewolf could finish the deed, the world had slowed down and blurred all around him, before reversing; his stone arms and hands attached back to his body, all his fingers, and the participants in this wicked game realigned – the wolf out of sight made him both grateful and timorous – the snowflakes ascending just to fall again. And, just like that, it was a couple of minutes ago.

 _Why the hell do I feel so tired?_ He wondered. Could vampires even get tired?

Riley squinted his eyes, examined when he was. He was back just prior to his fateful, entirely regrettable decision that would have ended...everything. For him. Only to go where especially stupid and evil vampires go, of course. The burning had to be an augury for something.

Undoubtedly, _this_ was the best thing that had happened to Riley Biers in a year...unfortunately. Before – a sentence he’d never even thought of or could have imagined while human – he’d died. Before _Victoria_.

Victoria.

He felt his heart crack a little, as his body had in that horrible time he’d reversed. _Victoria_. The worst thing to happen to him in a year, undeniably. Though he loved to deny it. To the newborns, to the yellow eyes, to himself. His dismissal had turned him into a monster, a pathetic monster. What could have happened if he had rejected the, now seemingly obvious, signs.

She’d left him, turned her back, uncaring. Like he was yesterday’s trash and not her _lover_ , her _partner_ , her _soulmate_. (Right?)

She’d turned him because she loved him? He thought she did. Riley couldn’t remember much of his human life, and she had helped fill in the pieces. He love(d) her. He wanted to protect her, always... But he couldn’t forget his glimpse of her eyes as she turned away, leaving him to a literal wolf, and what would’ve been his untimely second death.

Cold-hearted. Maddened. _Wild_. To get the girl, to kill her.

 _Idiot, she only ever wanted the girl, Bella Swan._ So many deaths just to get to one human, all for her dead “friend.” It was shocking, but at the same time, he’d noticed her ample self-preservation. He’d just discarded it as unimportant, thinking she’d never leave him, or, at least, only if she knew he was safe. Then, she’d come back, once she could...

Had he really overlooked everything and trusted the monster that had killed him? Had he always known she was using him? Deep down? _Or am I really just that stupid?_

If Riley could cry, he would.

She never had cared, had she? It was all a lie. _Lie. Lie. Lie._

“Riley?!”

Riley refocused on the scene before him. Victoria was standing where she’d been, all faux innocence and love, though he could see now the underlying annoyance at being ignored. There was a murderous impatience lying underneath her skin, a predator ready to pounce on the human with no concern on what means she had used for her ends.

Had she called his name more than once? It was like he was coming out of a fog.

The human looked confused and concerned and Riley knew from his splendid, tortuous experience that the werewolf was waiting in the bushes to attack. The only difference; the copper-haired vampire’s – whose name he didn’t know, never been told – eyes were wide and disbelieving, with a possible impressive look, and what looked like a hint of real worry. (For what?) Riley suspected the vampire would’ve gasped if he needed to breathe.

 _I guess he really does have mind powers_ , Riley concluded, distantly impressed. _Mind reading._

Which begged the question, was his ability a usual one of a powered vampire, or not? Did he get blessed with a super cool superpower, like in the comics he could distinctly remember reading as a child? Ironically, one rare but cursed with his inability to control it? What did it even matter when it happened sporadically, at best? The mind reader had to know he could kill him now – no rewinds.

It was what he deserved, he knew, but there was a wound gaping from his chest, and Riley didn’t think he could die without it being abated.

His thoughts began to race on what would and could happen differently this time. It could all go right or wrong, either way, Riley knew what he’d done was a one-hit-wonder. With his knowledge of a once future, if he’d been human, his heart would be pounding frantically with apprehension and adrenaline. Instead, he was stone, his heart was broken glass; an inhuman vampire, staring at the red eyes of his killer.

Now he had the opportunity to make the right choice, make his pain and actions mean something.

 _Actions have consequences_ , his dad’s voice said in an indistinct memory, _your choices define who you are._ He glanced at the other vampire, his strange eyes, the human Victoria so wanted to kill behind him, protected by him. _Bella Swan. I think I knew her father, once._

_Now you have to ask yourself, son, who do you want to be?_

“Riley!” Victoria snapped, her feet shifting. She wanted to leave, wanted to pounce; a battle of her survival instincts and her homicidal ones. No thought toward what she’d done – all the lives destroyed.

_She left me to die._

Riley ignored her, turning his shoulder away, knowing it surely enraged her further than she constantly was. (how many times had she slapped him as newborn? Too many to count) He did this, looking straight at his yellow-eyed enemy and thought explicitly for the apparent mind reader to hear. _For this to end, only two more monsters need to die._

The teenage looking vampire furrowed his brow but nodded slightly, and the choice was made.

“What was his name?” Riley asked, refocusing to the present. He turned his body to face Victoria, taking a step toward her.

“What?” Victoria startled, impatient more than anything, always looking out the corner of her eyes. This hadn't been part of her plan. He wasn't supposed to - what it seemed like to everyone but him and the other vampire - freeze up. Unfortunate for Victoria, she hadn't even realized he wasn't on her side anymore. 

“You never told me your friend’s name,” replied Riley, calmly. He walked closer to her. “You loved him. So much you’ve killed thirty innocent people for an army to kill an innocent human girl.”

“She’s not innocent,” Victoria snarled, unable to help herself. She paused, closing her eyes and softening her features, before opening them again with her restored disguise. “You know what they did, what they’d do to us. I love you Riley, I only want to protect you, us.”

Riley laughed softly at that, wearing a mask of his own to hide his pain. He rubbed at the hand that had been tore away – he vividly remembered how it felt to have his hand torn away, like it _had_ happened, his whole arm torn away, then his other arm, as he stared up into death’s jaws – and spoke just as softly, “His name was James.”

She’d been keeping one eye on them the entire time but now Victoria’s head whirled toward the copper haired vampire, her eyes narrowed and suspicious, taking one step back with an offensive stance – ready to run at a moment’s notice. He’d come back to right when the vampire had started speaking, pleading for him to make the right choice.

But he hadn’t said the name yet.

As she glared at the other vampire, Riley realized that she was attempting to recall if he _did_ have the powers she’d told him of, ones she didn’t know he’d have. Mind control. Or the ability to speak in people’s mind.

At this, Riley gave a sharp, bitter laugh. The human jumped at the sound, bewildered. Victoria turned her narrowed eyes to him, her fists clenched. Riley wondered if she’d really attack him, on this snowy mountain, in front of her two most hated people.

“How do you know his name?” Victoria asked through a clenched jaw. Her feet moved, antsy. _She’s getting ready to run,_ he recognized. _I have to get closer._

“Victoria,” Riley shushed, doing a placating gesture and walking to her quickly. Before she could object, he enveloped her in an unyeilding hug, one that sat directly on the threshold of too tight. “I didn’t mean to bring up old wounds.”

“Riley,” Victoria said, attempting to move away, keeping both eyes on her enemies. “You’re acting strangely.”

For all she was trying to leave the hug, Riley had discovered what he’d intended, and thought his plan. The other vampire gave no indication he knew, but Riley knew he did.

Now it just had to work.

“He didn’t tell me your friend’s name, Victoria,” Riley said, his body taut. “Not here and now, at least.” His eyes flashed at the memories – the crack his hand made, her back turned away, uncaring as he screamed – and he tightened his hold on her to the point he heard a crack in the here and now. Victoria shrieked, and - always one to know when to run, always one to sense the danger - increased her attempt to break free. Only Riley was stronger than her, always had been. He just never knew, or it had been the remnants of his human chivalry; Riley had been taught to never hit a woman. 

“He told me in a future that hasn’t happened and won’t happen,” Riley whispered in her ear. Victoria went stiff as a board, agast. “That’s right, my love, this whole time you lied to me, but I didn’t tell you everything.”

Riley looked at the vampire and human, to where the wolf was hopefully getting into position, though he had no idea how the other vampire had managed to communicate with it. “Why don’t you tell her?”

In Riley's opinion, the vampire half looked concerned about the disoriented Bella, and half darkly amused by the unexpected turn of events. Riley could understand - he hadn't had to do much of anything, which he 100% hadn't planned for - but Riley just wanted him to walk closer to Victoria and him. Box her in, less chance she'd escape. As he wanted - to which Riley smirked at the now honestly blatant mind-reading - the bronze-haired vampire stepped further in front of the human, shielding her and coming closer. "Victoria," he purred in a near hypnotic tone. “Riley has the ability to control time.”

Victoria flailed against him, which only worsened as the other vampire took yet another step near them. “Riley,” Victoria said, desperately. “How could you keep this from me? Don’t you trust me?”

“You lied to him,” the other vampire continued.

Victoria snapped her head in his direction so fast Riley was surprised it didn't fall off. He imagined the same fanatical, fiery glint he'd seen before and wondered how the other vampire didn't burn to ash right then and there. 

“I didn’t lie, Riley!" Victoria pleaded. She lowered her tone then, laying her head on his shoulder like they were real lovers. "We can go back and fix this. I told you about their mind tricks. You know I love only you." The familiar words caused an echo. It couldn't be an accident, that the same words were said. This was from her script. The realization felt like a thousand wounds, a thousand cuts to impenetrable skin. Riley screamed in pain and fury, blindly attacking in a way attributed to newborn vampires. By the time he came back to himself, calmed down enough to where he didn't want to tear apart _everything_ , Victoria was kneeling before him, snarling in pain, both arms gone.

Despite her predicament, Victoria was seething, shaking in her rage, a cutting glare aimed at Bella. She knew she was defeated, yet still consumed with her obsessive desperation to take the human with her.

 _Good thing I never told her about guns,_ Riley thought randomly. The other vampire sent him an unamused look. 

Riley refocused, staring down at the snarling Victoria; more animal than human at this point. This all had to be ended, he knew, before more people died. He raised his hand, aiming to do a clean snap, as much as she didn't deserve it. Yet, Victoria was apathetic to her own death, too busy glowering, too full of contempt. Riley saw a memory of his parents, blurry, but distinguishable, precious. He was moving into his college dorm, and mom was taking a bunch of pictures. He’d thought it was so embarrassing at the time and his siblings had laughed at him. What did they think of his disappearance? How much pain had it caused them? And what would they think of him now if they saw him? Riley knew the answer.

Numb, he lowered his hand.

 _I can’t kill her_ , he thought to the mind reader. _This is the monster she made me._

He turned away as the vampire nodded and the last part of his plan went into fruition; the wolf attacked and _tore_.

He heard more than saw. Victoria gave one last battle cry but it was too late. Quickly, her body was in pieces. He hadn’t delivered the fatal blow, like he thought he needed. Deep inside, he knew it wouldn’t have helped. Only death would.

As if all the fight had gone out of him, Riley fell to his knees, deep snow crunching as he sank. He took one last look at the snowy landscape before bowing his head and closing his eyes, waiting for the end. _Perhaps it will be nothing like I think,_ Riley prayed, _no fire, just peaceful oblivion._

 _Unlikely_.

Yet, the end never came. In a moment of forever, a fire was started, a monster burnt to ash. He hadn’t been lying when he said two monsters had to die. It was what happened at the end of books with happy endings. Yet, the expected death blow never came. Instead, a gentle hand was placed on his shoulder. No matter how kind the touch, Riley jumped.

“Riley,” the teenage vampire said at his side, squeezing his shoulder. “She’s gone.”

Riley could only look at him for a moment, uncomprehending. Eventually, he understood that he was being spared and wondered absently if shouting what a stupid decision this was would make him reconsider. He shook his head and, somehow, found it hard to breathe. “What?” Riley fumbled. “W-Why?”

“My name is Edward, I _can_ read your mind,” the bronze-haired vampire said, smiling wryly, obviously having heard his most recent, _mostly_ joking thoughts. “And you’re not a monster.”

Edward held out his hand.

In this wonderland of the Washington mountains, Bella stared curiously, the werewolf was sitting like a puppy and a dancing fire burned brightly against the snow.

Riley sincerely doubted what Edward said, but perhaps, he’d been right before. This was his last chance. ~~He could do something good yet.~~

Riley took it. 

**Author's Note:**

> The line Victoria says is straight from Eclipse just before Riley made the wrong choice™ and that’s why Riley loses it - he heard it before, and it’s obviously a prepared lie here. 
> 
> I know it might be confusing but I'm making Riley a blend of both the books and movies. Taken from the books, this is set in the book's timeframe so he’s eighteen and it’s 2006. His wiki page says he has both parents, and an older sister, and younger brother, so I'm keeping that. He was also in his first year of college when Victoria found him. 
> 
> Taken from the movie, Riley is from Forks. It just makes sense from a ‘why was he changed’ standpoint and I think it makes him more interesting. There's a lot I could work with there, like possible character connections. The actor that played him in the movies is how I envision him, instead of blond. All of this info will be important, plus I don’t want to confuse anyone. 
> 
> I don't know what people's thoughts on Riley are, but I've always felt kind of bad for him. His story has always mirrored Jasper's to me, just with no happy ending. He's taken from his life by Victoria, she constantly manipulated him, used him, and he became something I doubt a nice, from Forks, eighteen-year-old college kid would ever want to be. Then, he dies, after Victoria literally leaves him to die smh. So, I had to fix it. Riley's very much of a morally gray character to me, but he wants to be good. He'll likely seem OOC, but then we barely know anything about him from him, just Bella or Bree's opinions, which is one of the many problems I have with the series. Cool side characters with no development who either die or disappear. 
> 
> Please bear with me on any formatting errors, as I mentioned, this is my first fic on ao3. Comment your thoughts and suggestions as I attempt to revive a possibly dead fandom.


End file.
